Both of Elizabethtown College’s swimming teams were victorious over Fairleigh Dickinson University at Florham this past weekend, giving the programs their second wins on the young season. The men and women’s teams now have overall records of 1-5 and 2-4 respectively.
The men’s swim team was able to win all 11 races they competed in, defeating the Devils in front of a packed crowd at the Alumni Pool, 129-63. With the win, Etown moved to 7-0 against FDU-Florham all-time.
The meet seemed to be in Etown’s favor from the beginning. First-year Shane Bahn, sophomore Matt Jenson and seniors Michael Rentschler and Andrew Malik were able to win the 200-yard medley in 1:51.19.
Malik and junior Frank Capria helped propel the Blue Jays to victory, each winning two races in the contest. Malik won the 50 free in under 24 seconds. He then went on to win with a victory in the 100 free with a time of 51.92. Capria broke his own personal records in both of races he swam in. He was victorious in the 1,000 freestyle in 11:00.00, coming in two minutes before the next swimmer. Capria then won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:17:23. Overall, five of the team’s previous season-best times fell during the FDU-Florham meet.
First-year Ramon Rios finishes the 200 back stroke in 2:16.22. Bahn continued his success in the meet’s individual portion, winning the 500 free time by more than 12 seconds, at 6:00:09.
First-year Kieran Koehler turned in another fast performance with a career-best 2:25.06 in the 200 breast stroke. This victory moved Koehler into seventh place on the Middle Atlantic Conference’s top times chart.
The Blue Jays won Saturday’s last race of the day, the 200 free relay, with their only come-from-behind win. Renstchler’s 24.40 on the second leg put Etown ahead in the race. Rios swam the third leg in 24.54 and Koehler finished with a 23.44 to hold off the Devils. The Jays’ winning time of 1:38.01 was 2.86 seconds faster than FDU-Florham’s 1:40.87.
The women’s swimming team had the same outcome as their male counterparts, defeating FDU-Florham 170-15. The Blue Jays won all 11 events in the process, continuing their all-time undefeated streak against FDU-Florham.
Just like Capria and Malik, seniors Megan Leppo and Kimberly Cosgrove won two events during the meet. Cosgrove won the 1,000 free style with a time of 11:29.22, before finishing second to Leppo in the 200 free. After the second place finish, Cosgrove won the 200 back stroke in 2:31.14. She was victorious despite it being her first attempt at the race all season.
In the victory over Cosgrove, Leppo set a person best in the 200 free at 2:07.25. Leppo later posted a season best in the 500 free with a time of 5:36.53
First-year Mariselle Parisi, sophomores Colleen Barry and Rachel Engelhardt and junior Becki Lane made up the 200-yard freestyle relay team that turned in the group’s best time of the season thus far.
The Blue Jays managed to excel in the individual races as well. Lane went on to win the 50 free. Sophomore Amanda Long remained unbeaten on the season in the individual breaststroke with a victory on Saturday.
Junior Hunter Smith won the 200 fly in 2:43.35, with Engelhardt winning the 100 free and Parisi won the 200 breast. With the victory, Etown improved to 2-4. The Devils remained winless with their male counterparts with a 0-7 record, 0-4 in conference.
The Blue Jays will get back in the water when they travel to Drew University tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Etown will then travel to defending MAC Champion Albright College the following day at 2 p.m.
